The Whitney Museum is the home of contemporary art in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, after an offer of over 500 modern works of art to the Metropolitan Museum and was turned away. In 2014 the Whitney Museum of American Art moved into its third “permanent home”, a brand new building in the Meatpacking district of Manhattan. Today, the Whitney’s collection includes works by almost every major American artist of the 20th and 21st centuries. It also hosts major exhibitions and retrospectives.
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| photo by Beyond My Ken, via Wikimedia commons |
Amy Sherald: American Sublime (through August 10, 2025)
The main show at the Whitney is a retrospective of the life work of Amy Sherald (b. 1973). Ms. Sherald is an African American painter who produces portraits that she describes as simplified realism. She presents her subjects against simple, usually monochromatic, backgrounds. Sherald’s subjects are all of African American descent, but she paints them using gray-scale for their skin tones, an intended challenge to the perceptions of race and skin color of the viewers.
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| If You Surrendered to the Air, You Could Ride It |
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| Mother and Child |
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| The Bathers |
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| The Boy with No Past |
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| Hangman |
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| The Girl Next Door |
Ms. Sherald is best known for painting the official portrait of Michelle Obama and for the painting of Breonna Taylor that was used as a cover for Vanity Fair magazine.
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| For Love, and For Country |
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| Breonna Taylor |
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| A Golden Afternoon |
Shifting Landscapes (through Jan. 25, 2026)
Also on display is an exhibit titled Shifting Landscapes. There is a long history of artists creating representations of the physical world around them. This show expands on that idea to include the political, ecological and social issues that add to emotional landscapes of their and out existence.
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| Guerrera Protectora by Donna Huanca |
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| Overtown by Purvis Young |
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| Pond by Trevor Shimizu |
The High Line
The Whitney Museum sits at the south end of the High Line Park. The High Line is an urban park that was created on top of an old, abandoned elevated freight rail line. The park extends from Gansevroot Street for about 1.5 miles north to 34th street, running parallel to the Hudson River. The rail line was abandoned in the 1970’s as NYC’s industrial base moved out of the city, and it was slated for destruction. But some people knew that in the years that had passed, the tracks had been taken over by nature, and in 1999, The Friends of The High Line was formed. This is a non-profit conservancy that originally advocated for turning this space into a park. Today this organization runs the park in conjunction with NYC Parks Department.
The first section of the High Line opened in 2009, and its main path was completed in 2012. The park offers some unique views of Manhattan, one that constantly changes as the older buildings of the city are replaced by new ones. The park has a boardwalk that wends its way through areas left in the natural state they had developed. There are benches and chaise lounges all along its route. There are also areas with stadium style benches. Public art is commissioned every year to bring a new look to the park. The High Line is a great, if sometimes crowded, place for a walk, or just to sit and people-watch.
Nuts and Bolts
- The Whitney Museum is located at 99 Gansevroot Street, NYC.
- It hours are Wed-Mon 10:30 - 6:00 (Friday until 10:PM) Closed on Tues.
- Tickets are $30 Adults/$24 Seniors and Students/ 25 and under Free
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- The High Line is open from 7:00am - 10:00pm from April 1 - Nov 30; from 7:00am - 8:00pm from Dec 1 - Mar 31.
- There is elevator access at Gansevoort St, 14th street, 23 street, 30 street. There is ramp access from Moynihan Station and at 34th Street. There is stairway access at multiple other point.
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